Tarddiad Troubles
by Spiner909
Summary: Ozan and the World Guardian explore Tarddiad and discuss the gods, the elves, and romance.


Worth nothing that this story has spoilers for The Light Within and Kindred Spirits, as well as many older quests that those two are built upon.

* * *

A man and a woman walk alongside a river in a forest. The woman has light skin and short, raven-black hair, and is fully clad in black clothing, including gloves, a cape, and a currently lowered hood. Her outfit is light, warm, and surprisingly durable - the perfect set of clothing for exploration. She has a sword sheathed on her left hip. She turns to her companion as she walks.

"I appreciate you coming out here with me, Ozan."

The man shrugs. "Think nothing of it. It was very good timing, actually...I was just beginning to crave a new adventure!"

The man has much darker skin than his companion and has messy brown hair. He also wears a set of clothing well-suited for exploration, light and flexible, with some dragonscale padding underneath for protection. His orange tunic and cape are quite noticeable, however. He has a quiver and a powerful bow slung across his back.

The woman smiles amusedly. "Well, here's hoping you don't get too bored of the scenery. Apparently, the whole planet might be like this."

"Would that be such a bad thing? This place is spectacular!"

The forest the two are exploring is far from ordinary. The grass is a deep, alien blue. The fireflies that sparkle around the cool, nighttime air, give off an alluring blue instead of a more familiar yellow. The many trees around the area are made not of wood, but of a sturdy, light-blue crystal material, spiraling up and outwards. Somehow, the crystal trees have actual leaves on their branches. A few of the strange trees are _massive_ , reaching far above the canopy of their smaller brethren. Bushes, mushrooms, and flowers dot the forest floor in between the plentiful trees. Many of them are at least partially made up of the same crystal material as the trees, yet are light and flexible.

The forest is very beautiful, but is overwhelmingly alien to the two explorers.

"I bet you could hollow out the bottom of one of those gigantic crystal trees and have plenty of space for a home!" Ozan remarks, continuing to _ooh_ and _aah_ as he takes in the unfamiliar world.

"It would certainly be a novel kind of treehouse," the woman agrees.

"I can't believe more people don't know of this place."

"Plenty of people _know_ about Tarddiad. But getting there is something almost nobody knows how to do."

"I'll say. Although, you've yet to tell me exactly why that is, Luna..."

Luna sighs and stops walking. "I'll tell you later. You'll understand when you see them."

She puts her hands on her hips and looks upwards, staring at the stars through a gap in the thick canopy of trees.

"We've made enough ground for now. Let's camp here for the night."

* * *

"Hey, Ozan."

The two have assembled their sleeping rolls and lit a campfire, although Luna is doubting whether the latter was necessary, given how much light the crystal trees provide. Luna is crouched over near the fire, rummaging through her backpack for something, while Ozan has adopted to sit alongside the riverbed, casting a collapsible rod he had brought along into the shimmering waters.

"What's up?" He cocks his head back towards his friend to answer her.

Luna stands up and hesitates before voicing her question. "What do you think of Seren?"

"Whoof. Now there's a bombshell of a question to drop out of nowhere." Ozan turns his attention back to the gently flowing river.

Luna does not comment, and sits down cross-legged next to him.

"Well..." he starts. "I've not met her in person. But the fact that that is even possible tells a lot about her, you know?"

Luna nods, and he continues. "I think, above anything else...that she's honest. Honest with herself, and honest with her followers. That kind of attitude is...unheard of. Back home, the gods were always kind of an afterthought, at least in my district. Nobody really seemed to mind one way or the other who you worshiped, with the exception of the Devourer..." Ozan's voice trails off, his body subconsciously tensing up at the name of his people's hated adversary.

"She seems alright in my book," he finishes.

"I think that's a good assessment," Luna says after a few moments of silence. "Honest...yes, I agree. She is very honest."

Luna nods repeatedly to herself and leans forward, putting her chin on her fist.

"I take it you have many more thoughts on her than I do. Care to voice them?" Ozan asks.

"...yes. Half of the reason why I invited you out here is so I could articulate my thoughts on Seren." Luna lifts her head up and leans backwards, supporting herself with her arms. Her gaze is fixed upon the starry night sky as she begins to speak.

"As you said, Seren is very honest. Direct. You know what some of her first words were, after being restored? I will not leave you, but I will not lead you."

"Rather unlike most gods nowadays," Ozan mutters.

"Exactly. It's ironic that her attitude will probably garner her _more_ followers."

Luna rolls her shoulders. "I respect Seren. I appreciate her humility."

Then she snorts and falls onto her back, sprawling out onto the grass.

"She's what Saradomin would be if he wasn't a lying piece of trash."

Ozan puts his rod down and turns to face Luna. "Other than what he did to Owen, I've never fully understood why you hate him so."

"What Saradomin stands for...wisdom, justice, protection, benevolence...that's all very well and good...if he meant any of it. It's all propaganda. He just uses all his followers as means to power. Even Zamorak is up-front about _that_."

Ozan clicks his tongue. "So the chief deity for most of humanity doesn't care about us, eh?"

"No. All his promises are empty. Do you know why he even came to Gielinor in the first place? To search for artifacts to make him more powerful. It was never, _ever_ , about spreading his 'light and wisdom'." Luna sits up and spits out the phrase as if it were venom, her fists clenching in anger. "It still isn't."

She shakes her head and springs onto her feet, beginning to pace around. "You know, the thing that I hate most isn't even Saradomin himself. It's his followers."

"How do you mean?"

Luna's pacing becomes more intense and she raises her voice. "I can't believe the insane devotion so many people have for that scumbag! Whenever something good happens, oh, praise Saradomin! Whenever something bad happens, oh, ask Saradomin for mercy and forgiveness! These people are so dependent on him, they've tricked themselves into living by his laws. It's _soo_ much easier to live when you're just following the creed of your god, isn't it? No responsibility for yourselves! It's pathetic!"

Ozan pushes his jaw back up and blinks a few times. Luna has stopped moving, her back facing him.

"Uh...feel better, getting all that out?" he asks.

Luna jumps a little in surprise, and turns to look at Ozan. "Oh, um...yes." She rubs the back of her head. "Sorry. Got pretty carried away there, huh?"

He waves her off. "It's fine. I admit, that was rather surprising, coming from you. But we all have to vent now and then, eh?"

Luna looks at him apologetically. "That doesn't usually happen to me. Sorry again..."

Ozan stares at her for a moment, then sighs and rolls his eyes. "Geez. Leave it to me to be the serious one for a change. Luna, I think you should let it happen _more_."

"Wh...what? You want me to yell at you more often? Uh, why?"

"Well, not me specifically!" he holds up his hands in protest. "What I meant is, you should make sure to 'vent' more regularly. Look, I don't know everything, but I know that the stress you're dealing with dwarfs mine. Actually, it probably dwarfs all of our stress put together. Mine, Ariane's, Owen's, and even Lin-" Ozan gulps, remembering the fate of the blacksmith.

"Linza," he finishes uncomfortably. "Look, point is, you can't afford to bottle up your emotions. I'm willing to lend an ear if you need to rant again."

"Thanks, Ozan," Luna smiles in relief. "Wait, rant?"

Ozan bursts into a sudden fit of coughing. "Vent! I said vent, you must have misheard me."

"Heh. That's what I thought."

Suddenly, Ozan's fishing rod goes taut as something beneath the water bites on.

"Woah, hey! I got something!" Ozans leans backwards, pulling the catch towards him.

He reels the catch in without much effort. A fish wriggles around at the end of his line, crystal scales glittering.

"What the hell," Ozan grumbles. "It's scales are made of crystal? How am I supposed to eat this?!" He plucks the fish off the line and throws it onto the grass in frustration. It makes a faint cracking sound, like breaking glass.

Luna bursts out into racuous laughter. "I was waiting for your reaction to that! Ah, man, that was great!"

"Ah, I see, now...you brought me out here to laugh at me, huh? I see." Ozan mumbles.

Calming down, she addresses the sulking Ozan. "Ah, relax. Those fish are still edible, you just have to chisel off the crystal scales. They're pretty tasty, actually."

"Chisel a fish..." Ozan shakes his head in disbelief. "What a world."

* * *

The two slept through the night soundly.

Luna is the first to awake, the warmth of the morning sun rousing her. Stretching out the remnants of sleep, she looks up to address the hulking mass of metal standing over her.

"Did anything interesting happen overnight, Percy?"

The metal giant moves, turning around to face its summoner. The titan is humanoid in appearance, having two arms, two hands, two legs, and a head, but has no other identifiable features of any kind, lacking even a face or eyes.

"Good morning, my lady," the steel titan bows and somehow offers a low, rumbling greeting, despite having no physical means to vocalize it. "Rest assured, your sleep was undisturbed. There was nothing out of the ordinary."

"That's good to hear," Luna yawns.

"I offer my deepest apologies that I am unable to prepare you a fitting breakfast, my lady," the titan laments dramatically. "I humbly request that you dismiss me as soon as possible. It would not be right for me to drain you of energy when I cannot accomplish such a simple task!"

Luna sighs and her shoulders drop. "I've told you before, Perseus, it's _fine._ I can keep you summoned for _days_ on end, you know that. And I keep telling you, you don't need to make my meals! You're not my butler!"

"But it is simply inexcusable that-"

"Unh-uh. Not another word," Luna shakes her head and cuts him off. "I said I was going to look into a way to improve your dexterity, and I meant it. I'll hear no more of this."

The steel titan bows again. "Very well, if you insist...thank you, my lady."

"Yeah, yeah. Now, if you want to be useful, how about you go gather some firewood?"

* * *

Ozan wakes up not long after, sitting up and looking about groggily.

"Mornings...ugh. I hate mornings," he complains, flopping back onto his sleeping roll.

"Some explorer you are," Luna smirks.

"I was having the most pleasant dream, too...I was regaling a lovely princess, fair of complexion and auburn of hair. I was telling her of all my greatest exploits in...somewhere or other..." he says.

Luna can't hold back her laughter. "So you admit it? That even in your dreams, your tales are all made up?"

"They're sensationalist," he defends himself, sitting up again. "It's more about the _feelings_ , rather than the facts."

"I _feel_ that half of your stories are based on my actual exploits."

He looks away awkwardly. "Err...what a strange thing to say!"

Luna shrugs. "Eh, whatever. I'll let it slide, since you've stopped flirting with me all the time."

Ozan lets out a huge sigh of relief inside his head. "Hypothetically, if I were using your adventures as my stories, I would be grateful. Except, I'm not, so I'm not."

She raises an eyebrow, amused.

"Besides," he continues. "I've decided that it would be far too awkward to date you. You're the only woman in our group with a sense of humor!"

"Hey, Ariane can be funny."

Ozan cringes. "To you, maybe. Perhaps her jokes are a bit too sophisticated for me. She's not as bad as Owen, at least."

Luna sighs. "Poor Owen. Always the butt of the joke."

The two munch down a simple breakfast made of bread and the fish that they had caught the night before, enjoying the sun's rays.

The forest around them greets the morning, as well. Small animals that resemble rabbits and squirrels at a distance cautiously peek out at them from the treeline. Birds sing to each other and flocks take off, escaping the canopy. The river continues to softly babble as its current meets the rocks and reeds within it. All together, the environment creates a deeply peaceful feeling, which the two heroes take great comfort in, escaping the stress of their greater responsibilities for a time.

"Oh!" Ozan exclaims after a bite of bread. "I just got it!"

"Got what?" Luna tilts her head.

"Her name. Seren. It comes from the feeling of _serenity_. Right?"

"Just figured that out, huh? Yeah, it does," Luna stands up and dusts herself off.

"Mm. I was trying to put a name to the atmosphere of this place," Ozan explains.

Luna sighs and casts her gaze towards the treeline, starting at something far out of sight. "Tarddiad is wonderful, isn't it..."

The sadness in her voice gives Ozan reason to pause, and he begins to suspect that he'll soon learn the true reason Luna brought him here.

* * *

"There's a lot of things to feel about Tarddiad," Luna explains as they push through the thick foliage, making their way up a slight slope.

"Relief, that it still exists at all. That we found a way to travel to it. Peace, from the atmosphere of this place. Wonder, from exploring it. And then..." Luna stops moving and crouches behind a tree, pointing down at two creatures below them. "There's them."

Ozan takes cover behind a tree and peers out at what Luna pointed at. "What are they?"

"Elves," she answers quietly. "The ones Seren left behind."

The 'elves' below them barely resemble the denizens of Priffdinas. Dressed in primitive rags and tribal outfits, they listlessly shamble around without direction. While similar in size, skin tone, and hair color to their modern brethren, they could not be more different. Small spikes and outcroppings of light-blue crystal jut out from their head and shoulders, seemingly made of the same material as the trees.

"These are the twisted descendants of the Cywir elves, the clan that opted not to leave for Gielinor. They were left behind," Luna explains. "But Seren's influence on them was too great. Their very being had been tied to their crystal goddess. Without her presence, they began to suffer. Those crystals you see on them? That's not decoration. Look closer at the one on the left."

Ozan complies and focuses intently on the creature.

"Wait..." he says, realizing. "You can't be serious. His hands and feet...those aren't gloves?"

"No. In the absence of Seren's power, they turned to the crystals of the world - crystals infused with her essence. Basically, those crystals became an addiction that we can't even comprehend. Those beings below us are called shapeshifters, and they are utterly insane, driven by a frenzied hunger for Seren's essence, something stronger even than a feral vampyre. And they can be very aggressive to anything that isn't them."

"Shapeshifters...so they are actually made out of crystal, then...what a horrifying fate."

"Let's avoid a fight. These ones look pretty corrupted - the more crystal on them, the tougher they are, and the more desperately they'll fight."

Ozan nods and the two step away from the shapeshifters, utterly unnoticed.

"Is this what you wanted me for? In case you had to fight?" Ozan asks.

Luna nods. "They're tougher than they look. They can turn their limbs into weapons on the fly, and into all three styles of combat. Fighting more than one at once is a bad, _bad_ idea."

"Are they all like that?"

"No. There are ways to survive without suffering the crystal insanity. Unfortunately, it's not common. I've only met one elf, a female named Angof, who is sane."

"Now I see why you keep the method of getting to Tarddiad a secret. Can they be helped?"

Luna looks away, uncomfortable with the subject. "Angof seems to think that the younger ones, the least corrupted, might have a chance, although she doesn't know how. The heavily corrupted ones are beyond redemption. The only mercy they can get is a quick death."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ozan exclaims. "Why hasn't Seren come here yet? Can't she fix all of this in a second?"

Luna flinches. "That's...I wish it were that easy. But the curse isn't that simple, and Seren is concerned that her presence here might...exacerbate things. That's why I agreed to help her."

"Help her how?"

"Well...we don't really know. Right now, we're just scouting out the immediate area around the World Gate. Hopefully, we'll find some other sane elves, but...it doesn't seem too likely. Other than that, we're looking for ruins, significant populations of shapeshifters, notable resources...that kind of thing. Seren needs information before she can make a plan of how to fix this."

Ozan is quiet for a moment. "Now I get what you said earlier, about there being many things to feel here."

Luna nods and says nothing.

"I can only imagine then...whatever we're feeling, it must be a hundred times stronger for Seren." His eyes suddenly light up in realization and he cracks a faint smile. "Huh. Never would have imagined that I'd feel sympathy for a divine being."

"Kind of puts in all into perspective, huh?" Luna says. "Anyway. Come on, we've still got a lot of ground to cover today."

* * *

This one was pretty fun to write. I've still got some more stuff I want to write about RuneScape, but I think I'll shelve it for a week or so. I had an idea involving Meg and/or the Dominion Tower...if that interests you, check back in with me later!

Thanks for reading!


End file.
